Flipped-over kayak prompts search

Rachel Rippetoe

Monday

Jun 26, 2017 at 12:01 AM

A kayak flipped over on the Willamette River near Jasper Park on Sunday, prompting the Lane County Sheriff’s Office to dispatch its water rescue team shortly before 1 p.m., when someone reported seeing an empty kayak floating downstream.

But the man had freed himself from his overturned kayak and made it to shore — only to realize some time later that he was the subject of a search when he saw the ambulances by the river.

“He was alone, so he had no way himself to call for help,” Search and Rescue Coordinator Jason Bowman said. “We wouldn’t have had any idea if someone else didn’t report the kayak floating down the stream.”

The man was not injured, Lane County Sheriff’s Office said.

From Eugene-Springfield fire dispatch logs, it appears that it took the rescue team just under an hour to locate the kayaker.

According to Bowman, all the fire districts in the area sent rescuers, medics and other equipment. Personnel from Eugene Springfield Fire also searched along the riverbank from Jasper Park to the Northern Lights Christmas Tree Farm on Wheeler Road. The rescue team found the stranded kayaker near Jasper Bridge.

The man had climbed out of the river after his kayak flipped over, and a relative picked him up on the road. Bowman said the man approached ambulances stationed on the river bank after realizing that he was the one they were seeking.

“By that point, we had already searched that entire stretch of river by boat and both shores, so we had done quite a bit of searching,” Bowman said. “We just didn’t find him because he was already out of the river.”

Bowman said that the man was wearing a life jacket, which he said likely was a deciding factor in how events played out.

The arrival of summery weather in Oregon has resulted in at least a drowning a week for the past several weeks, and authorities warn that while air temperatures near 100 degrees make local rivers tempting, a life jacket can give someone a second chance at survival if they fall into the frigid water.